17 Year Exemption From Pharmaceutical Patents Agreed At WTO – TWN

From Third World Network: London, 3 Nov (Sangeeta Shashikant) ­ The United States and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the World Trade Organization have reached agreement ad referendum on a pharmaceutical patent exemption for a duration of 17 years, according to trade diplomats.

With this exemption, the world’s poorest nations will not be obliged “to implement or apply” or “to enforce” patents as well as test data protection for pharmaceutical products until 1 January 2033.

This agreement was reached during a high level meeting on 29 October between US Ambassador Michael Punke and representatives of the LDC Group, Ambassador Shameem Ahsan from Bangladesh and Ambassador Christopher Onyanga Aparr from Uganda.

As part of the agreement, the LDC Group also secured waivers from mailbox and exclusive marketing right obligations, a trade diplomat said, adding that there were no restrictive conditions attached to the decision text.

With these waivers, LDCs will not be obliged to make available a mechanism for filing patent applications for pharmaceutical products (mailbox) or to grant exclusive marketing rights to such applications until 1 January 2033, although the waivers would have to be reviewed by the WTO General Council annually.

Trade diplomats expect a decision text based on this agreement to be formally adopted by the Council of the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) when it meets this Friday (6 November) at 10 am at the WTO. The waivers from mailbox and exclusive marketing rights will also have to be endorsed by the General Council.

[Editor’s Note: The full story appeared on the ip-health listserv. The Third World Network website is: www.twn.my.]